| June 5, 2008 |
Vol 15, Issue
25 | |
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FAHSA
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| Welcome to
this week's edition of the FAHSA Link.
FAHSA's Innovation Exchange
Corner Features Creating Career Ladders for Direct Care
Workers -- FAHSA's Innovation Exchange Program
provides members with an opportunity to share ideas and best
practices with others and to recognize their staff for
extraordinary performance. Through the LINK, we hope to
encourage more members to share what they do best and to
increase awareness about the Innovation Exchange Web site, an
important but little known resource. This month, we are
showcasing "Creating Career Ladders for Direct Care Workers",
a program designed by the Morse Institute for Nursing
Department at Morse Geriatric Center in conjunction with the
Morse Institute for Geriatric Research and Training, as a CNA
Career Advancement Program. The Career Advancement Program was
created to provide a true career ladder for CNAs.
A new category of CNA was developed-the CNA Specialist; the
pay grade was increased two levels and addendums to the basic
CNA job description were incorporated. To read more
about this innovative program, please visit the FAHSA Innovation Exchange page on the
FAHSA Web site and click on "Creating Career Ladders for
Direct Care Workers" program.
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| Education News |
Five Education Scholarships Available for
Convention from the Scott Boord Career Development
Scholarship -- The Scott Boord Career Development
Scholarship enables FAHSA members to send eligible staff to
FAHSA or AAHSA educational conventions, workshops and
seminars. The maximum amount of funding available per
applicant is $500.00. The funds can be used to cover
registration fees, travel, or other conference-related
expenses. The selected recipients receive credit on the
FAHSA registration or reimbursement of expenses by submitting
an expense form with the attached receipts. The
scholarship is funded by the Silent Auction held each year in
conjunction with FAHSA's Annual Convention and Exposition and
FAHSA's Annual Housing & Service Coordinator Workshops.
For more information, or to apply for a
scholarship, please click here. Register
Now for FAHSA's Upcoming Webinar on June 10 -- "New
Changes in the Eligibility Requirements for Long-Term Care
Programs as a Result of Modifications in Law from Deficit
Reduction Act." During this two hour webinar, Ron
Hardcastle and several representatives from the Department of
Children and Families, will share valuable information and
focus on how these major new changes will affect you.
Register online
today. Upcoming Educational
Events:
June 10,
2008 - Webinar - Changes in Eligibility Requirements
for LTC Programs July 27, 2008 - 5th
Annual Strategic Visioning Workshop, Boca Raton Resort &
Club July 27, 2008 - Preceptor Training
Program, Boca Raton Resort & Club July 28-31,
2008 - 45th Annual Convention and Exposition, Boca
Raton Resort & Club
FAHSA Calendar of
Events |
| General News |
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AHCA Opens 2008 ESS State Hurricane Exercise
until June 4 - Last week, FAHSA reported that the
Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) opened a test
event in the Emergency Status System (ESS) as part
of the Agency's hurricane readiness activities. AHCA is
requesting that you include information about your generator
fuel.
If you have questions regarding the use of ESS or
your user account, please contact the following:
- Long Term Care Unit (850) 488-5861
- Assisted Living Unit (850) 487-2515
- Home Care Unit (850) 414-6010
After hours, or during an emergency, please contact the
AHCA licensure unit emergency assistance at the State
Emergency Operation Center at (850) 410-1822 (EOC phone number
is only functional when designated by EOC
activation).
Fiscal Agent
Important Transition Information -- As Florida
Medicaid moves toward the fiscal agent transition between ACS
and EDS occurring July 1,
2008, there are several important events providers
should be aware of for the transition. Read more about this in
the latest General Alert, GEN 08-03.
Guns
in the Workplace Bill Takes Effect on July 1 -- A
member asked if retirement communities, nursing homes and ALFs
are exempt from a bill signed into law by Governor Crist that
gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms in motor
vehicles. While there are a few exemptions, they do not apply
to FAHSA members or health care facilities in general. HB 503
takes effect on July 1 unless the Florida Chamber and the
Florida Retail Federation succeed in their efforts to obtain a
preliminary injunction to delay implementation until the court
rules on a legal challenge filed by the two organizations. We
will let you know if the delay is granted.
This is one of the many topics that will be discussed
during legal and roundtable sessions held in conjunction with
our annual convention from July 28 -31 in Boca Raton. Please
plan to attend.
In the event that you did not read the 2008
Legislative Session Wrap-up, HB 503 prevents employers from
prohibiting a customer or employee from keeping a legally
owned firearm locked inside, or locked to, a private motor
vehicle in a parking lot. The bill further prohibits employers
from violating the privacy rights of said persons by verbal or
written inquiry about the presence of a firearm inside a
private motor vehicle lot or by a search of the private motor
vehicle in a parking lot to ascertain the presence of a
firearm. The bill prohibits employers from taking action
against the person based upon verbal or written statements and
requires any searches of the vehicle to be conducted by
on-duty law enforcement personnel. Employers are prohibited
from conditioning employment upon either an employee's or a
prospective employee's holding or not holding a license to
carry a concealed weapon or firearm, or any agreement by an
employee or a prospective employee that prohibits an employee
from keeping a legal firearm locked inside a motor vehicle
when the firearm is kept for lawful purposes. An
employer may not terminate the employment of, or discriminate
against, an employee or expel a customer when the person is
exercising his/her right to keep and bear arms. The provisions
of the act do not apply to a motor vehicle owned, leased, or
rented by an employer.
Other General
Alert News:
- Fiscal Agent Important Transition Information
- Final Hospice Rule to be Published on June 5
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| Home
and Community-Based Services News |
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CMS Finalizes Hospice Rule - Effective Date
12/2/08 -- AAHSA has been advised that the final
Rule: Medicare and Medicaid Hospice Conditions of
Participation, will be published in the Federal Register on
Thursday, June 5. (This is in spite of the Notice
published last week extending the CoP publications date to
2009.) Please note that the rule is 700+ pages, so it
will take a short while to get through the entire rule. Please
read the article in the General Alert (GEN 08-03) (click in
the General News section above) this week for highlights based
on a review by AAHSA policy staff Evvie Munley and in
conjunction with information received from the National
Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
(NHPCO).
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| Legislative News |
State Budget Included $110 Million for
"Turkeys" -- According to an annual review by Florida
TaxWatch, legislators approved $110 million in spending
projects this past legislative session that fall into the
"turkey" category (local projects that are of questionable
value that were not subject to the usual budget process).
The number is down from previous years, no doubt because of
the deep cuts that were needed to balance the budget for
fiscal year 2008-09. "The story here is that a $6 billion
reduction [in the state budget], which will significantly
affect many basic functions of state government, only reduced
the prevalence of budget turkeys but did not stop them
outright," said Dominic Calabro, the president of TaxWatch.
Governor Crist, who vetoed nearly $460 million in local
projects in 2007, is expected to be
more accommodating this time around. Election year
politics helps.
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| Nursing
Home News |
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Immediate Input Needed Now on Medicare
Bill - AAHSA reports that the Medicare bill will
contain a "doc fix" but Senate leaders remain mum on what else
the bill will contain and how any of these measures will be
financed. As the nursing home and home health updates remain
on the table for use in covering the costs of this Medicare
bill, AAHSA needs members to contact their senators this week
and urge them to protect the scheduled 2009 Medicare
update. Read more about this and other nursing home news
in this week's Nursing Home Alert, NH
08-18. Other Nursing Home
News:
- Emergency Status System: AHCA Requests Generator Fuel
Updates
- Nursing Homes Required to Test Emergency Management Plan
Annually
- 2008 Standards of Practice in Nutrition Care/Standards
of Professional Performance for RDs and
DTRs
FAHSA Nursing Home
Alert Page
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| Preferred Business Associates
News |
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 FAHSA's
Preferred Business Associates Program (PBAs) -- A
list of PBAs can be found by on the FAHSA Web site www.fahsa.org and
selecting Preferred Business Associates from the left side
menu bar or clicking on the FAHSA Preferred Business
Associates Page hyperlink. FAHSA members can also use the
on-line directory to search for PBAs by specialty.
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| Job-Mart |
| FAHSA is pleased to provide an opportunity for
you to advertise your "position wanted" or "position
available" through the FAHSA Link newsletter and on our
Web Page.
FAHSA members may use the Job Mart services at no charge. A
nominal fee of $25 will be charged to nonmembers.
Your Job Mart advertisement will be displayed on our Web
site for approximately three months. The FAHSA Link is
published weekly and distributed to our membership which is
comprised of nursing homes, CCRCs, HUD housing, assisted
living facilities, independent living facilities and
companies/firms.
To reserve advertisement space in our Job Mart program,
please complete the application and fax it
to FAHSA at (850) 671-3790 or E-mail Erin Steele at esteele@fahsa.org
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Copyright 2008 -- Publication of the
Florida Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
(FAHSA).
- FAHSA Chair: Alma Ballard
- FAHSA President/CEO: Janegale Boyd
- Managing Editor: Gail Matillo
Copyright
Information: Copies of the articles and other information in
this publication may be noncommercially reproduced for the
purpose of educational or scientific advancement. Otherwise,
no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including
photocopying, microfilm and recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without the written permission
of the editor.
Correspondence: Should be addressed to:
Editor, 1812 Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. For
telephone inquiries, call (850) 671-3700. Or E-mail FAHSA at
info@fahsa.org. © 2008 FAHSA. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this
correspondence is not intended as a substitute for legal
advice. Please discuss any information gathered from this or
any other FAHSA publications with your legal counsel in the
context of your particular situation before implementing any
new policies or procedures.
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